Process Manufacturing
The Shift Toward Autonomous Production in Process Industries
The definition of autonomy in manufacturing is shifting from a conceptual goal to a practical requirement. According to Axel Lorenz, CEO of Process Automation at Siemens AG, autonomous production allows facilities to maintain consistent output despite…
Why Factory Optimization Falls Behind Operational Reality
Factory optimization often underdelivers because it assumes a level of operational stability that rarely exists in practice. Modern manufacturing environments change continuously across product mix, labor availability, equipment behavior, and process configuration. Optimization approaches, however, remain…
Why You Should Step Inside the Siemens eXplore Tour and See Industrial AI Work
Shown publicly for the first time at CES, the eXplore Tour is a mobile industrial environment built to answer a question most leaders ask before approving change: “Can I see this work before it touches my…
The New Invisible Workhorses of the Smart Factory
Walk any modern plant floor, and you'll see the familiar pillars of industry: machines, materials, and people. But a new class of essential worker has emerged, one you cannot see. It doesn't draw a salary, take…
Data Sovereignty in Manufacturing Starts with One Question: Can You Run Without the Cloud?
The hidden line between convenience and dependency Manufacturers are adopting more cloud services, partner integrations, and data-driven applications every year. That shift creates a simple but decisive test for data sovereignty: does production continue if a major…
Embracing AI-Driven Decision Making in Manufacturing
AI-driven decision making in manufacturing delivers measurable results when leadership commitment, operator trust, and incremental scaling align. In a conversation between Alec Glenn of JSW Steel USA and Karthikeyan Natarajan, Co-CEO of Infinite Uptime, concrete outcomes…
What Manufacturing Leaders Misjudged About AI in 2025
In 2025, manufacturers implemented AI across forecasting, logistics, and supplier risk scoring expecting breakthroughs, but a clear pattern emerged: AI improved awareness and decision support without eliminating uncertainty or delivering automatic resilience. Based on a panel…
The Path to Autonomous Manufacturing: Prescriptive AI Meets Guaranteed Outcomes
Manufacturing plants face a persistent challenge: bridging the gap between monitoring equipment and improving production outcomes. While sensors and dashboards flood facilities with data, most solutions stop at detection, leaving operators to figure out what happens…
Scaling AI-driven reliability in process manufacturing: culture first, then code
AI, prescriptive maintenance, and edge analytics are reshaping how process plants run. Yet the gap between a successful pilot and full-scale impact rarely closes on technology alone. The differentiators are culture, operating model, and data foundations.…
Inside Merck’s smart manufacturing revolution
An in depth conversation with Michelangelo Canzoneri, Global Head of Group Smart Manufacturing at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany Interview by Jan Burian Headquartered in Darmstadt, Germany, Merck employs around 65,000 people in 66 countries, contributing to…
Beyond Dashboards: Manufacturers Want Predictive Data, Not Pretty Graphs
Manufacturers today face a critical gap: factories are full of dashboards showing vibration graphs, torque curves, and temperature plots, yet critical equipment still fails unexpectedly. Experts from InfluxData, CGI, Bosch, and Trask identify the fix: moving…
Building Digital Reliability: Why Your Maintenance Strategy Needs External Expertise
The manufacturing sector faces a persistent tension: should organizations build all digital capabilities in-house or leverage external partners? The answer, increasingly, is neither—it's both, strategically combined. The Cost of Doing Everything Yourself Many industrial leaders assume…